Name Origin Predictor MCP server for AI agents

This MCP server predicts the origin of names using the Nationalize.io API. It allows you to determine the likely country of origin for a given name, either individually or in batches, through a convenient Model Context Protocol interface.

Installation

Prerequisites

Before installing the Name Origin Predictor, ensure you have:

Python 3.x installed
A virtual environment tool (recommended)

Setup Steps

Clone the repository to your local machine:

git clone https://github.com/allglenn/mcp-name-origin-server.git
cd mcp-name-origin-server

Create and activate a virtual environment:

python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate  # On Unix/macOS
# or
.\venv\Scripts\activate  # On Windows

Install required dependencies:
```
pip install httpx
```

Configuration

To integrate the server with Claude Desktop, create a claude_desktop_config.json file with the following content:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "origin": {
            "command": "source",
            "args": [
                "venv/bin/activate",
                "&&",
                "python3",
                "-u",
                "mcp-server.py"
            ],
            "shell": true,
            "env": {
                "PYTHONPATH": ".",
                "PYTHONUNBUFFERED": "1"
            }
        }
    },
    "defaultServer": "origin",
    "version": "0.1.0"
}

Usage

Starting the Server

Launch the MCP server by running:

python mcp-server.py

Available Methods

The server provides two main methods:

1. Predicting a Single Name's Origin

Use predict_origin to determine the origin of a single name:

Input: A string containing the name
Returns: A JSON object with country predictions and probabilities

2. Batch Prediction

Use batch_predict to analyze multiple names at once:

Input: A list of names
Returns: A JSON object with predictions for each name

Example Response

When you request the origin of a name, you'll receive a response like this:

{
    "name": "glenn",
    "country": [
        {
            "country_id": "US",
            "probability": 0.421
        },
        {
            "country_id": "AU",
            "probability": 0.044
        }
    ]
}

Error Handling

The server automatically handles several error scenarios:

Invalid input format
Connection issues with the Nationalize.io API
Rate limiting from the API
Internal server errors

Each error returns an appropriate message to help troubleshoot the issue.

How to install this MCP server

For Claude Code

To add this MCP server to Claude Code, run this command in your terminal:

claude mcp add-json "origin" '{"command":"source","args":["venv/bin/activate","&&","python3","-u","mcp-server.py"],"shell":true,"env":{"PYTHONPATH":".","PYTHONUNBUFFERED":"1"}}'

See the official Claude Code MCP documentation for more details.

For Cursor

There are two ways to add an MCP server to Cursor. The most common way is to add the server globally in the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file so that it is available in all of your projects.

If you only need the server in a single project, you can add it to the project instead by creating or adding it to the .cursor/mcp.json file.

Adding an MCP server to Cursor globally

To add a global MCP server go to Cursor Settings > Tools & Integrations and click "New MCP Server".

When you click that button the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file will be opened and you can add your server like this:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "origin": {
            "command": "source",
            "args": [
                "venv/bin/activate",
                "&&",
                "python3",
                "-u",
                "mcp-server.py"
            ],
            "shell": true,
            "env": {
                "PYTHONPATH": ".",
                "PYTHONUNBUFFERED": "1"
            }
        }
    }
}

Adding an MCP server to a project

To add an MCP server to a project you can create a new .cursor/mcp.json file or add it to the existing one. This will look exactly the same as the global MCP server example above.

How to use the MCP server

Once the server is installed, you might need to head back to Settings > MCP and click the refresh button.

The Cursor agent will then be able to see the available tools the added MCP server has available and will call them when it needs to.

You can also explicitly ask the agent to use the tool by mentioning the tool name and describing what the function does.

For Claude Desktop

To add this MCP server to Claude Desktop:

1. Find your configuration file:

macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
Linux: ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

2. Add this to your configuration file:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "origin": {
            "command": "source",
            "args": [
                "venv/bin/activate",
                "&&",
                "python3",
                "-u",
                "mcp-server.py"
            ],
            "shell": true,
            "env": {
                "PYTHONPATH": ".",
                "PYTHONUNBUFFERED": "1"
            }
        }
    }
}

3. Restart Claude Desktop for the changes to take effect